Delhi Dynamos FC has signed Belgian goalkeeper Kristof Van Hout — the tallest professional football player in the world — for the inaugural season of the Hero Indian Super League.
An accomplished custodian, Van Hout played for Belgian powerhouse Racing Genk last season.
With a height of 6 feet and 10 inches (2.08m), Van Hout is an imposing figure at the goalpost, and shares the tallest professional footballer title with Elgin City FC’s Paul Millar.
At the age of 27, he is at the peak of his footballing prowess and will have plenty to offer to the club.
Van Hout burst on to the scene in 2008, becoming the hero of Kortrijk after saving three penalties in the shootout against league champions Standard Liege to help his team progress to the quarterfinals.
This earned him a transfer to none other than Standard Liege itself, with whom he won the Belgian Cup in 2010—11. Van Hout was on the bench for Liege’s matches in the Champions League, including two games against Premier League giants Arsenal.
In 2012, Van Hout made the move to another Belgian superclub, Racing Genk, one year after the club sold prodigious talent Thibaut Courtois to Chelsea. That season, Van Hout led Genk to a third place finish in the Pro League, earning them a place in the Europa League. He also won his second Belgian Cup.
